diff --git a/compactor/periodic.go b/compactor/periodic.go
index 09953528ef34..5f53f24a4b19 100644
--- a/compactor/periodic.go
+++ b/compactor/periodic.go
@@ -61,81 +61,85 @@ func newPeriodic(clock clockwork.Clock, h time.Duration, rg RevGetter, c Compact
 	return t
 }
 
+/*
+Compaction period 1-hour:
+  1. compute compaction period, which is 1-hour
+  2. record revisions for every 1/10 of 1-hour (6-minute)
+  3. keep recording revisions with no compaction for first 1-hour
+  4. do compact with revs[0]
+	- success? contiue on for-loop and move sliding window; revs = revs[1:]
+	- failure? update revs, and retry after 1/10 of 1-hour (6-minute)
+
+Compaction period 24-hour:
+  1. compute compaction period, which is 1-hour
+  2. record revisions for every 1/10 of 1-hour (6-minute)
+  3. keep recording revisions with no compaction for first 24-hour
+  4. do compact with revs[0]
+	- success? contiue on for-loop and move sliding window; revs = revs[1:]
+	- failure? update revs, and retry after 1/10 of 1-hour (6-minute)
+
+Compaction period 59-min:
+  1. compute compaction period, which is 59-min
+  2. record revisions for every 1/10 of 59-min (5.9-min)
+  3. keep recording revisions with no compaction for first 59-min
+  4. do compact with revs[0]
+	- success? contiue on for-loop and move sliding window; revs = revs[1:]
+	- failure? update revs, and retry after 1/10 of 59-min (5.9-min)
+
+Compaction period 5-sec:
+  1. compute compaction period, which is 5-sec
+  2. record revisions for every 1/10 of 5-sec (0.5-sec)
+  3. keep recording revisions with no compaction for first 5-sec
+  4. do compact with revs[0]
+	- success? contiue on for-loop and move sliding window; revs = revs[1:]
+	- failure? update revs, and retry after 1/10 of 5-sec (0.5-sec)
+*/
+
+// Run runs periodic compactor.
 func (t *Periodic) Run() {
-	fetchInterval := t.getFetchInterval()
+	compactInterval := t.getCompactInterval()
 	retryInterval := t.getRetryInterval()
-	retentions := int(t.period/fetchInterval) + 1 // number of revs to keep for t.period
-	notify := make(chan struct{}, 1)
+	retentions := t.getRetentions()
 
-	// periodically updates t.revs and notify to the other goroutine
 	go func() {
+		lastSuccess := t.clock.Now()
+		baseInterval := t.period
 		for {
-			rev := t.rg.Rev()
-			t.mu.Lock()
-			t.revs = append(t.revs, rev)
+			t.revs = append(t.revs, t.rg.Rev())
 			if len(t.revs) > retentions {
 				t.revs = t.revs[1:] // t.revs[0] is always the rev at t.period ago
 			}
-			t.mu.Unlock()
-
-			select {
-			case notify <- struct{}{}:
-			default:
-				// compaction can take time more than interval
-			}
 
 			select {
 			case <-t.ctx.Done():
 				return
-			case <-t.clock.After(fetchInterval):
-			}
-		}
-	}()
-
-	// run compaction triggered by the other goroutine thorough the notify channel
-	// or internal periodic retry
-	go func() {
-		var lastCompactedRev int64
-		for {
-			select {
-			case <-t.ctx.Done():
-				return
-			case <-notify:
-				// from the other goroutine
 			case <-t.clock.After(retryInterval):
-				// for retry
-				// when t.rev is not updated, this event will be ignored later,
-				// so we don't need to think about race with <-notify.
+				t.mu.Lock()
+				p := t.paused
+				t.mu.Unlock()
+				if p {
+					continue
+				}
 			}
 
-			t.mu.Lock()
-			p := t.paused
-			rev := t.revs[0]
-			len := len(t.revs)
-			t.mu.Unlock()
-			if p {
+			if t.clock.Now().Sub(lastSuccess) < baseInterval {
 				continue
 			}
 
-			// it's too early to start working
-			if len != retentions {
-				continue
-			}
-
-			// if t.revs is not updated, we can ignore the event.
-			// it's not the first time to try comapction in this interval.
-			if rev == lastCompactedRev {
-				continue
+			// wait up to initial given period
+			if baseInterval == t.period {
+				baseInterval = compactInterval
 			}
+			rev := t.revs[0]
 
 			plog.Noticef("Starting auto-compaction at revision %d (retention: %v)", rev, t.period)
 			_, err := t.c.Compact(t.ctx, &pb.CompactionRequest{Revision: rev})
 			if err == nil || err == mvcc.ErrCompacted {
+				lastSuccess = t.clock.Now()
 				plog.Noticef("Finished auto-compaction at revision %d", rev)
-				lastCompactedRev = rev
 			} else {
 				plog.Noticef("Failed auto-compaction at revision %d (%v)", rev, err)
-				plog.Noticef("Retry after %s", retryInterval)
+				plog.Noticef("Retry after %v", retryInterval)
 			}
 		}
 	}()
@@ -145,7 +149,7 @@ func (t *Periodic) Run() {
 // (e.g. --auto-compaction-mode 'periodic' --auto-compaction-retention='10m', then compact every 10-minute)
 // if given compaction period x is >1-hour, compact every hour.
 // (e.g. --auto-compaction-mode 'periodic' --auto-compaction-retention='2h', then compact every 1-hour)
-func (t *Periodic) getFetchInterval() time.Duration {
+func (t *Periodic) getCompactInterval() time.Duration {
 	itv := t.period
 	if itv > time.Hour {
 		itv = time.Hour
@@ -153,35 +157,33 @@ func (t *Periodic) getFetchInterval() time.Duration {
 	return itv
 }
 
+func (t *Periodic) getRetentions() int {
+	return int(t.period / t.getRetryInterval())
+}
+
 const retryDivisor = 10
 
 func (t *Periodic) getRetryInterval() time.Duration {
-	itv := t.period / retryDivisor
-	// we don't want to too aggressive retries
-	// and also jump between 6-minute through 60-minute
-	if itv < (6 * time.Minute) { // t.period is less than hour
-		// if t.period is less than 6-minute,
-		// retry interval is t.period.
-		// if we divide byretryDivisor, it's too aggressive
-		if t.period < 6*time.Minute {
-			itv = t.period
-		} else {
-			itv = 6 * time.Minute
-		}
+	itv := t.period
+	if itv > time.Hour {
+		itv = time.Hour
 	}
-	return itv
+	return itv / retryDivisor
 }
 
+// Stop stops periodic compactor.
 func (t *Periodic) Stop() {
 	t.cancel()
 }
 
+// Pause pauses periodic compactor.
 func (t *Periodic) Pause() {
 	t.mu.Lock()
 	defer t.mu.Unlock()
 	t.paused = true
 }
 
+// Resume resumes periodic compactor.
 func (t *Periodic) Resume() {
 	t.mu.Lock()
 	defer t.mu.Unlock()
diff --git a/compactor/periodic_test.go b/compactor/periodic_test.go
index d4ad5cd03062..429f9de6d542 100644
--- a/compactor/periodic_test.go
+++ b/compactor/periodic_test.go
@@ -36,25 +36,30 @@ func TestPeriodicHourly(t *testing.T) {
 
 	tb.Run()
 	defer tb.Stop()
-	// simulate 5 hours
 
-	for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
+	n1 := tb.getRetentions()
+
+	// compaction doesn't happen til 2 hours elapses
+	for i := 0; i < n1; i++ {
 		rg.Wait(1)
-		fc.Advance(time.Hour)
-		// compaction doesn't happen til 2 hours elapses.
-		if i < retentionHours {
-			continue
-		}
-		// after 2 hours, compaction happens at every interval.
-		// at i = 3, t.revs = [1(2h-ago,T=0h), 2(1h-ago,T=1h), 3(now,T=2h)] (len=3) (rev starts from 1)
+		fc.Advance(tb.getRetryInterval())
+	}
+
+	// simulate 5 hours
+	// now compactor kicks in, every hour
+	for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
 		a, err := compactable.Wait(1)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
-		expectedRevision := int64(i - 1)
+
+		expectedRevision := int64(i + 1)
 		if !reflect.DeepEqual(a[0].Params[0], &pb.CompactionRequest{Revision: expectedRevision}) {
 			t.Errorf("compact request = %v, want %v", a[0].Params[0], &pb.CompactionRequest{Revision: expectedRevision})
 		}
+
+		rg.Wait(1)
+		fc.Advance(tb.getCompactInterval())
 	}
 }
 
@@ -70,25 +75,29 @@ func TestPeriodicMinutes(t *testing.T) {
 	tb.Run()
 	defer tb.Stop()
 
-	// simulate 115 (23 * 5) minutes
-	for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
+	n1 := tb.getRetentions()
+
+	// compaction doesn't happen til 2 hours elapses
+	for i := 0; i < n1; i++ {
 		rg.Wait(1)
-		fc.Advance(retentionDuration)
+		fc.Advance(tb.getRetryInterval())
+	}
 
-		// notting happens at T=0
-		if i == 0 {
-			continue
-		}
-		// from T=23m (i=1), compaction happens at every interval
+	// simulate 115 (23 * 5) minutes
+	// compaction happens at every interval
+	for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
 		a, err := compactable.Wait(1)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
-		expectedRevision := int64(i)
+
+		expectedRevision := int64(i + 1)
 		if !reflect.DeepEqual(a[0].Params[0], &pb.CompactionRequest{Revision: expectedRevision}) {
 			t.Errorf("compact request = %v, want %v", a[0].Params[0], &pb.CompactionRequest{Revision: expectedRevision})
 		}
 
+		rg.Wait(1)
+		fc.Advance(tb.getCompactInterval())
 	}
 }
 
@@ -102,18 +111,14 @@ func TestPeriodicPause(t *testing.T) {
 	tb.Run()
 	tb.Pause()
 
+	n1 := tb.getRetentions()
+
 	// tb will collect 3 hours of revisions but not compact since paused
-	// T=0
-	rg.Wait(1) // t.revs = [1]
-	fc.Advance(time.Hour)
-	// T=1h
-	rg.Wait(1) // t.revs = [1, 2]
-	fc.Advance(time.Hour)
-	// T=2h
-	rg.Wait(1) // t.revs = [2, 3]
-	fc.Advance(time.Hour)
-	// T=3h
-	rg.Wait(1) // t.revs = [3, 4]
+	for i := 0; i < n1*3; i++ {
+		rg.Wait(1)
+		fc.Advance(tb.getRetryInterval())
+	}
+	// t.revs = [21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30]
 
 	select {
 	case a := <-compactable.Chan():
@@ -123,16 +128,19 @@ func TestPeriodicPause(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// tb resumes to being blocked on the clock
 	tb.Resume()
+	rg.Wait(1)
 
 	// unblock clock, will kick off a compaction at T=3h6m by retry
-	fc.Advance(time.Minute * 6)
+	fc.Advance(tb.getRetryInterval())
+
 	// T=3h6m
 	a, err := compactable.Wait(1)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+
 	// compact the revision from T=3h
-	wreq := &pb.CompactionRequest{Revision: int64(3)}
+	wreq := &pb.CompactionRequest{Revision: int64(22)}
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(a[0].Params[0], wreq) {
 		t.Errorf("compact request = %v, want %v", a[0].Params[0], wreq.Revision)
 	}